Quentin's @ Eurasian Association House

For a long time, I had wanted to try authentic Eurasian food. Most of the "Eurasian" food I tried were Peranakan-based food. Even though I have the recipes for Eurasian food written by the famous Mary Gomez, I have never tried authentic Eurasian food.

So today, I made it a point to go to the restaurant at the Eurasian Association called Quentin's. Instead of a set meal, the meal was communal. We had stewed beef, sambal kang kong, fried chicken wings, and dessert of chendol, gula melaka and the famous sugee cake (of course!).

When we sat down, complimentary crackers were served, just like a Peranakan or Indonesian restaurant. And these were Indonesian crackers, not the normal prawn crackers that are so nice and tasty, but the more bitter kind.

Stewed Beef

The beef was supposed to be cooked in chilli, but somehow the taste was not that fantastic.

Sambal Kangkong

The spicyness of this dish is there, but the presentation looked more like mixed assorted vegetables to me.

Fried Chicken Wings

At least the chicken wings are great! They were deep fried in chicken frying oil, which made a big difference to the normal chicken fried in normal cooking oil.

Sugee Cake

I must say this is rather disappointing. I thought a sugee cake looks nicer than this. Or maybe the ones I have seen are beautiful because they are meant for weddings. The taste is a normal butter cake, a tad dry. Overall disappointing.

Chendol

Gula Melaka

The dessert is also disappointing. The gula melaka is not sweet enough and the coconut milk is not thick enough. The best gula melaka and chicken wings I have eaten so far was at this now-defunct place called Do Re Mi, opposite the music school at the old Plaza Singapura. Unfortunately the place has closed down for many years. :-(

Overall, my first experience at tasting Eurasian food is not that impressive. Hopefully when I do find the other famous Eurasian food which everyone has been raving about, it may be better.

Food : 3 out of 5
Ambience : 2 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5

Plane Food

For the first time, I get to go on a business trip, and for the first time, I took Singapore Airlines Business Class. I have bought the cookbook from Singapore Airlines some time back, and was wondering if they indeed serve those kinds of food on a mere plane? But now that I have taken Business Class, I realise that the passengers are really served well.

Besides reclining seats where one can lie sprawled out like on a bed and sleep, the table can also be extended into a long dining table. So come meal time, there would be white table clothes, utensils wrapped in white cloths, and generally a classy setting.

And the food! It is a normal three-course meal that is about the same standard at any good restaurant! I thoroughly enjoyed it! My first business class experience is really good! Now I really cannot go back to being a normal passenger in economy anymore!

First lunch - table setting

Appetizer - carpacio beef with udon

First dinner - Appetizer (Satay)

Entree - beef salad

Main course - Cod Fillet with potatoes

Dessert - Tiramisu cheesecake

In comparison, the food on other planes just do not seem that appetizing. On my way back, I took the same kind of food as well, although with a different menu. What made me so happy was that after days of eating casual American fare, I wanted to taste real honest-to-goodness local cuisine, and fried rice is on the menu! Hence I ordered that for supper after sleeping for a few hours.

2nd dinner - Appetizer (salad)

Main Course - Noodles with Pork Ribs and Chicken

Dessert - Chocolate Ice Cream with Vanilla Bean

Snack - Fried Rice

The breakfast food was great too! We had a choice of all-American breakfast or local breakfast. Because I was still jetlagged and hungry, I ordered both the American breakfast and local breakfast, which happened to be nasi lemak!

All American Breakfast - Fruit platter

Bread, with butter and jam

Cornflakes with milk

Nasi Lemak

Who can believe we can actually partake such good food on a plane?

Casual American Fare

I was in Orlando for a conference and stayed at the Renaissance Orlando Seaworld Resort. The hotel itself is already twice the size of any local hotels. Inside, there are several restaurants, most notably the Tradewinds Restaurant, serving casual American fare. Besides lunch on the first day and breakfast on the last day, all other meals were catered, so I went to the Tradewinds Restaurant for lunch on my first day. Afterall, what is the use of going to America without partaking American food?

The restaurant is situated at the mezzanine of the hotel. It is the most conspicuous restaurant when one enters the hotel as it is situated right in between the two lift lobbies (the two lift lobbies are situated at two ends of the hotel). The entrance is flanked by a pair of french doors opening into a casual ambience.

Tradewinds Restaurant at Renaissance Orlando Seaworld Resort

I ordered a burger (what else?). Bear in mind that the American burger is not the same as our normal local burger from McDonalds or other fast foods. The American burger is made up of two huge chunks of bun, with a huge round meat loaf made from beef, lettuce, tomatoes and olives, in between the two buns. The American burger can kick any Carl's Jr. burger (considered one of the bigger burgers around) to the end of the world!

The burger I ordered is a normal BLT - bacon, lettuce, tomato, and came with just that, with coleslaw as a side dish. I was famished after the long flight and the jetlag, that I just held the burger and put it in my mouth. Hmmmm.... delicious! Nothing can ever describe the taste of the burger! No doubt it was just an ordinary burger, but for a ravenous jetlagged person, it was totally juicy and top of the world!

It was a very satisfying lunch! The opening dinner was a few hours later, where we had cocktails around the mezzanine area, then went into the ballroom for a three-course meal. Somehow, after the burger I had, the meal was not as appetizing nor fulfilling as the burger. Or perhaps I was still full from the huge burger. Whatever it was, the food for dinner was nothing much to rave about.

Appetizer - mixed salad

Main course - Fillet of Fish with carrots and asparagus

The fish was alright, but the sauce was not good enough to mask the "fishy" taste.

Dessert - Chocolate Gelato Cake

Even the chocolate cake did not perk me up. The texture of the cake was soft enough, but the taste itself is not rich enough.

All in all, it was a disappointing dinner. However, the closing dinner at the underwater restaurant in Seaworld was not too bad. We were seated at a table next to the big aquarium tank, where the sharks, sting rays and fish were swimming around looking at us eating.

As usual, the menu had already been decided. The first course (appetizer) was samosa (of all things!). It was samosa alright, with a fruit salad on the side as accompaniment. But it was nothing compared to the authentic samosa we have back home.

Appetizer - Samosa

The entree was mixed salad, with croutons. I wonder why do they not have soup? Or maybe because of the crowd, soup is a bit too troublesome since everyone's taste is different? Personally I much rather have soup than salad.

Entree - Salad with Croutons

At least the main course was alternate. It was a choice of fish and steak. I chose steak of course, you do not expect me to eat fish while staring at a fish!

Main course - Sirloin steak with Onions and Crab Cake

At least the steak was perfect - tender, juicy and just the right make. One does not get steak cooked to perfection back home, but then I guess in a place where the people grow up on steaks, I would kind of expect the steaks to be perfect.

Dinner ended off with dessert, again gelato with fruits! Wonder what the organiser had against real full cream ice cream?

Dessert - Gelato in a Cup with Strawberries

We had to walk to Seaworld from our hotel. Even though our hotel is considered as "inside Seaworld" itself, it was still a twenty minute walk to reach Seaworld, and another twenty minute walk to the restaurant. By the time dinner ended, it was almost ten, and the gates were closed. We were locked in the theme park! Fortunately, someone managed to get a security guard who opened the gates and let us all out. After the sumptuous dinner, a walk really did us good!

It was unfortunate that I did not go to more places since it was a work trip, but I believe there would be another chance to go off on my own again, and taste all the different tastes of America!